


One Way or The Other

by Opalgirl



Category: Tortall - Pierce
Genre: Gen, General, Humor, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-06
Updated: 2010-03-06
Packaged: 2017-10-07 18:39:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/68031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalgirl/pseuds/Opalgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal thinks his knight-mistress knows more than she ought to, and he doesn't understand how she does know so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Way or The Other

Lady Alanna lowered her blade and eyed him. "Who taught you to fence, Queenscove?" She walked to the far edge of the practice court, stretching.

"Our man-at-arms, my lady."

Coppery eyebrows rose and she tossed him a towel, which he caught in his free hand. "Go."

"Tomorrow morning?" Neal asked, feeling the weight of the too large and too heavy practice sword drag at his arm.

"Of course." Her grin was mischievous. "You won't learn if you don't practice, will you?"

Neal wanted to tell her she was mad and that she was going to _kill him._ Then he remembered that Kel trained with lead-weighted weapons and shut up. He saluted his knight-mistress and sheathed the blade before he left the court.

The lady caught up with him as he started the walk towards the keep. "You can be fast - and you can be good," she told him, her hands tucked in her belt, "but if you're facing someone that's stronger, you'll tire quickly and they'll have you. You won't be able to keep up."

What she said made sense, even to Neal's tired, not yet fully alert brain. "If I may, Your Ladyship?" He saw the roll of her eyes and the visible effort she made to keep from snapping at him.

"You may. So long as you get to the point _sometime _today, squire. I'd like my breakfast."

He groaned inwardly and regretted asking the question. "Who taught you to fence, my lady?"

"Duke Gareth - he was training master during my time."

Neal raised his eyebrows. The Duke of Naxen was over eighty years old, but he had been King's Champion. It was also said that he had been the best swordsman alive during King Roald's reign.

"I also started with a sword that was nearly as big as I was," she continued, "and probably weighed more than I did. It built stamina.” She was grinning. “Your friend Squire Keladry trains with lead-weighted weapons – surely you can.”

Neal stopped, startled. “How do _you _know that?” he demanded of the lady’s retreating back. He waited for her to call him on his attitude or his tone, but she didn't.

Alanna flapped a hand at him. “My husband,” she said casually, as if that somehow made sense, which it _didn’t._

Neal frowned, and followed after her. It wasn't as if she lived at court, so how would she know? He would find out, one way or the other.


End file.
